Permutation_Jim
Established Member
My house has been an on-again -- off-again -- SWMBO-on-my-back-again project for a few years now.
Located in the Cotswolds, here is its story...
I found a "real fixer upper" a few years back, where the two previous owners had "wall to wall carpeted" and "off-white walled" it nearly to death. Looking for a quick profit, they both slapped on cheap repairwork hoping to pass it off before anyone noticed.
I noticed, but thought the house had real potential.
Local friends and DIY veterans had a less enthusiastic response.
But it did have a garage that, while only big enough for a Morris Minor, might become a decent (very) small workshop.
After sorting SWMBO's needs... that is to say, after refurbishing the areas in which she'd spend most of her time, I set my sights on the Lounge...
...which had now become a storeroom.
So, first things first, I started by removing the loathsome carpet.
True to form, previous owners had cut out "trap door" style squares whereever there was wood rot. In one section, they just screwed down a two foot square panel of plywood.
As well, we chuckled when my neighbour told us about how fig tree roots never grow sideways.
Does that look like electrical cable to you?
The rot was caused by too much debris (that came from the owner's sloppy first attempt at plastering, having been swept under a floorboard) preventing air from flowing. Old houses like this are built without foundations directly on the ground, so air movement is a must.
By the way, I used a little Makita cordless saw (the old 5090D style, here http://www.mtmc.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=5112&strPageHistory=cat) to cut the floorboard tongues. Its razor thin blade made short work of them and proved quite easy to control. It does, however, use up batteries quickly.
Redwood pine was the best match I could find, so after two rubbish bins of underfloor "leavings" were removed, I milled and cut the boards, then sanded the whole lot till, well, till I was done.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Located in the Cotswolds, here is its story...
I found a "real fixer upper" a few years back, where the two previous owners had "wall to wall carpeted" and "off-white walled" it nearly to death. Looking for a quick profit, they both slapped on cheap repairwork hoping to pass it off before anyone noticed.
I noticed, but thought the house had real potential.
Local friends and DIY veterans had a less enthusiastic response.
But it did have a garage that, while only big enough for a Morris Minor, might become a decent (very) small workshop.
After sorting SWMBO's needs... that is to say, after refurbishing the areas in which she'd spend most of her time, I set my sights on the Lounge...
...which had now become a storeroom.
So, first things first, I started by removing the loathsome carpet.
True to form, previous owners had cut out "trap door" style squares whereever there was wood rot. In one section, they just screwed down a two foot square panel of plywood.
As well, we chuckled when my neighbour told us about how fig tree roots never grow sideways.
Does that look like electrical cable to you?
The rot was caused by too much debris (that came from the owner's sloppy first attempt at plastering, having been swept under a floorboard) preventing air from flowing. Old houses like this are built without foundations directly on the ground, so air movement is a must.
By the way, I used a little Makita cordless saw (the old 5090D style, here http://www.mtmc.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=5112&strPageHistory=cat) to cut the floorboard tongues. Its razor thin blade made short work of them and proved quite easy to control. It does, however, use up batteries quickly.
Redwood pine was the best match I could find, so after two rubbish bins of underfloor "leavings" were removed, I milled and cut the boards, then sanded the whole lot till, well, till I was done.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
